South Sudan Crisis Situation Report No. 43 (as of 3 July 2014)

● Cholera continued to spread, with partners concerned about a possible outbreak in Wau Shilluk, Upper Nile State where 246 suspected cases were reported in only 72 hours.

● Over 400,000 people have fled into neighbouring countries, including over 158,000 people in Ethiopia.

● For the first time since December, a humanitarian barge departed Juba on 29 June with supplies for conflict-affected communities in Upper Nile and northern Jonglei states.

● Rapid response operations reached another 74,700 people during the week, bringing the total number of people assisted in hard-to-reach areas to 714,300.

Situation overview

The security situation became more tense over the week, with clashes and military mobilization in and around Bentiu in Unity State and in several locations in Upper Nile State.
The number of people who have fled South Sudan to seek refuge in neighbouring countries increased to over 400,000.
Of these, 158,000 have gone to Ethiopia, where aid agencies reported that 1,500 people arrive weekly. All in all, the conflict has uprooted over 1.5 million people from their homes.

Response efforts continued to scale up. Of the 1.9 million people reached with some form of assistance since the start of the year, around 714,300 have been assisted through rapid response operations in hard-to-reach areas since mid-March. Addressing acute food insecurity, malnutrition and life-threatening diseases including cholera and malaria remained top priorities.

Cholera outbreak spreads further

Partners remained concerned about the spread of the cholera outbreak which was first declared on 15 May.
Though initially largely confined to Juba County, the disease has spread, with outbreaks or alerts reported in nine of 10 states. As of 2 July, 2,613 cases have been reported, with 63 deaths. The case fatality rate - i.e. the number of deaths per reported cases - was 2.4 per cent.
This is above the emergency threshold of 1 per cent. The outbreak was spreading fast in Torit, the state capital of Eastern Equatoria State. A major alert was also issued by health partners in Wau Shilluk, Upper Nile State, where 246 suspected cases, including seven deaths, have been reported in only 72 hours. Eleven suspected cases were also reported in the UN base in Bentiu, where poor sanitary conditions increased the risk of the disease spreading